• 


V 


IN  THE  ASSEMBLY.] 


[SESSION  OF  1853. 


REPORT 


OP    THE 


STATE   PRISON    COIMISSIONEES. 


[GEORGE  KERR,  STATE  PRINTER. 


V 

53a. 


EPORT 


OF    THE 


STATE  PRISON  COMMISSIONERS. 


Office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Buildings. 

To  the  Honorable  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State 
of  California : — 

The  undersigned,  appointed  Commissioners  by  Act  of  the  Legislature 
May  1st,  1852,  to  select  a  suitable  location  for  a  State  Prison  and  to  con- 
tract for  the  building  of  the  same,  have  discharged  the  duty  thus  devolving 
upon  them,  and  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  duly  impressed  with  the  importance  and  responsibility  of  the 
trust  confided  to  them,  they  proceeded  directly  after  their  appointment  to 
examine  and  survey  the  points  which  were  at  first  recommended  to  their 
consideration,  as  the  most  appropriate  localities  for  the  site  of  a  permanent 
prison.  Their  attention  was  in  the  outset  directed  to  Goats  Island,  oppo- 
site to  the  City  of  San  Francisco,  and  if  security  alone  against  the  escape 
of  convicts  was  to  be  considered,  this  Island  would  have  been  entitled  to 
a  first  choice  ;  but  after  diligent  investigation,  the  undersigned  could  not 
determine  in  whom  the  ownership  of  this  island  was  vested,  and  not  be- 
ing authorized  to  purchase  under  a  doubtful  or  insecure  title,  this  locality 
was  rejected. 

Angel  Island  was  the  next  site  considered,  but  no  warranty  of  a  title 
could  here  be  obtained,  and  without  considering  its  advantages,  it  was 
necessarily  passed.  It  was  deemed  important  that  the  prison  should  be 
built  on  some  point  contiguous  to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  passing 
by  the  two  islands  before  mentioned,  the  most  suitable  locality  was  found 
at  Point  St.  Q,uentin,  near  the  mission  of  San  Rafael,  and  distant  from 
San  Francisco  about  twelve  miles.  No  other  place  on  the  bay  appeared 
to  the  undersigned  to  possess  superior  or  equal  advantages.  It  is  within 
the  line  of  steamboat  navigation,  and  easy  and  safe  of  access.  It  is  an 
elevated,  healthy  and  conspicuous  point ;  good  water  is  obtained  on  the 


ground,  and  abundance  of  wood  in  the  neighborhood.  Quarries  of  stone 
suitable  for  building  purposes,  apparently  inexhaustable,  are  found  within 
the  prison  limits  and  immediate  vicinity.  Clay,  well  adapted  for  the 
manufacture  of  brick,  forms  the  substratum  of  the  ground  selected,  and  it 
has  been  demonstrated  by  actual  practice,  that  the  convicts  can  be  worked 
to  advantage  upon  the  ground  now  designated  as  the  prison  limits. 

Ten  thousand  dollars,  the  amount  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  a 
site,  were  paid  for  thirty  acres  (20  acres)  of  land  on  Point  St.  Quentin  ; 
but  the  contract  provides  for  the  building  of  a  wharf  leading  to  sixteen 
feet  water  in  the  bay,  without  charge  to  the  State,  and  to  be  free  forever 
to  its  use. 

The  undersigned  having  thus  far,  they  believe,  without  impeachment 
of  motive,  discharged  faithfully  their  duty  to  the  State,  proceeded  next 
to  contract  for  the  building  of  the  Prison,  and  in  passing,  they  must  be 
permitted  to  refer  to  the  gratuitous  and  vindictive  assaults  which  have 
been  made  upon  them  personally,  and  upon  their  official  action  by  the 
public  press,  or  by  malicious  and  irresponsible  persons  availing  them- 
selves of  this  mode  of  attack.  The  malignity  of  interested  Stock  Bro- 
kers ;  the  harpies  who  live  by  crying  up  and  down  the  State  credit,  the 
moths  who  feed  and  fatten  upon  State  script :  the  "  Bulls  and  Bears"  who 
gamble  in  State  securities  can.iot  be  measured  by  argument,  or  silenced 
by  facts ;  and  it  would  be  extra  official,  and  not  comport  with  our  self 
respect  to  analyze  pointless  invective  that  has  become  stale  to  the  public 
ear.  The  undersigned  have  had  a  duty  fc)  perform,  a  task  they  were 
commissioned  to  accomplish,  and  they  are  prepared  to  show  they  have 
been  faithful  to  their  trust. 

Pursuant  to  the  law  under  which  the  undersigned  hold  their  appoint- 
ments, they  published  at  large  proposals  for  building  a  State  Prison  ;  it 
will  not  be  denied  that  ample  time,  ample  information  and  due  publicity 
were  given  :  that  competition  was  invited,  and  the  undersigned  have  only 
to  say  that  after  an  impartial  consideration  of  all  the  proposals  submitted 
to  them ;  the  contract  was  awarded  to  the  lowest  responsible  bidder. 
And  now,  sir,  the  undersigned  respectfully  submit  the  contract  which 
they  have  made,  to  the  candid  consideration  of  the  Legislature :  if  in  their 
official  capacity  they  had  bound  the  State  to  pay  exorbitant  prices,  or 
even  higher  than  the  current  prices  of  the  country,  if  they  had  violated 
any  law,  or  abused  the  extraordinary  powers  conferred  upon  them,  they 
might  approach  the  representatives  of  the  people  with  diffidence  and 
doubt ;  but  the  contract  wears  an  open  face,  it  is  composed  of  figures  and 
facts ;  it  is  susceptible  of  measure,  it  has  length,  and  breadth,  and  depth 
convertible  into  cubic  yards ;  and  what  it  ought  to  cost  is  susceptible  of 
exact  calculation.  It  is  by  measurement  that  the  work  is  let,  and  the 
accompanying  papers  will  show  that  measure  by  measure  in  comparison, 
the  Prison  will  be  built  cheaper  than  like  work  is  being  or  has  been 
done  in  any  part  of  the  State ;  it  may  be  that  the  undersigned  are  at 
fault  in  requiring  the  Prison  to  be  completed  within  the  period  of  one 
year,  but  they  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  magnitude  of  the  plan  will 
give  rise  to  a  structure  not  more  than  commensurate  with  the  prospective 
wants  of  the  State.  Older  States  have  larger  population,  but  the  number 
of  convicts  is  increasing  in  a  fearful  ratio  and  will  soon  outnumber  those 
in  many  of  the  States  that  have  prisons  of  superior  dimensions. 


Even  were  it  now  practicable,  the  undersigned  would  not  recommend 
a  remodelling  of  the  plan  with  a  view  to  its  contraction,  but  it  is  under- 
stood that  the  contractors  will  be  content  to  build  within  one  year  only 
the  most  essential  portions,  proceeding  afterwards  from  time  to  time,  or 
from  year  to  year,  according  to  the  public  wants,  and  with  a  due  regard 
to  the  means  of  the  State.  ^ 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

JAMES  GRAHAM, 

Superintendent  Public  Buildings. 


GEfc.  McDOUGAL, 
J.  MILLER. 


